Poem: Like the Titanic

On April 14, 1912 the Titanic steamship sank due to human error and lack of precautionary action. The movie features some powerful images, including that of a mother in a lower cabin tucking in her two young children, knowing they have no chance to get out. The image moved me then and came back to my mind today, resulting in a poem appropriate for this site.

Like the Titanic

May we remain as calm

as the mother tucking in
her two sleepy-eyed children
to bed in their Titanic cabin

as feet pounded and voices swelled
through the outer hall in waves
until an eerie silence
framed the off-kilter place.

And now we kiss our own

on their soft, familiar heads,
hiding our loosened tears in their hair,
shielding their ears and eyes

from what we see is coming
with our own aching eyes -
the unwitting world being veered
into a microwave sea

where the ancient hulls of our genomes
breached by the pulsing waves
despite what the blind captains say
can never be restored.

Let’s shut our cabin doors
though there will be no stampede.

Let's squeeze our families in daily embraces,
make prayers and music to soothe.

Though our DNA be doomed
through irrevocable folly
it does not mean we cannot rally
for moments sheltering peace.